Was it The Rapture or not? This is the launch point for Tom Perrotta’s new novel The Leftovers and his take on the possibly apocryphal event is so well done it’s one more reminder to me that I’ll never be a novelist. This theme has been cartoonized by every fundamentalist/zombie writer in the world with heavy emphasis on the horror and suffering that such an event would ... Read More...
The Submission by Amy Waldman
An anonymous competition to design the 9/11 memorial in NYC. A panel of 13 judges including the widow of a man who died in one of the towers. A winner who turns out to be a Muslim. With these straightforward facts begins a book that is anything but straightforward: Amy Waldman's debut novel, The Submission. Even at first glance it's clear that the opportunity for ... Read More...
Ed King
My conscience says that I should start with a Spoiler Alert but with a condition: this book’s plot will only be news to you if you’ve never read Sophocles or heard of an oedipal complex or if you don’t read dust jackets. Now that I’ve covered myself liability-wise here’s what you need to know, David Guterson’s Ed King is his re-imagining of the tale of Oedipus Rex. ... Read More...
The Dovekeepers
I’ve read enough Alice Hoffman to believe that she is one of the world’s best writers about women. Her plots may be fantastical but even as her female characters behave in magical and mystical ways their deepest mystery lies in their female essence. Imagine then, taking a subject as masculine and obscure as the decimation of the Jews at the siege of Masada- the ... Read More...
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Writing a review about a Stephen King book feels almost as daunting and futile as deciding to climb Everest. What is left to say that hasn’t been said by professional reviewers the world over? His background, writing style, mental stability and more have been discussed and dissected ad nauseam so I won't go there. The man has written 50 books and whether you like the ... Read More...
The Help
Important preface to this review: I am one of those people who doesn’t do well when faced with exhortations to view/read something widely and unanimously praised. Call it childish or perverse, I often find it that much harder to like or enjoy and certainly not to the degree everyone around me seems to be feeling. Several key examples of movies and books which I ... Read More...
